IMD Executive Development Series – serie

This book aims to be what every marketing manager needs to know about marketing in today?s competitive markets. The idea was born out of repeated comments from IMD clients that there were gaps in the ?classic? literature where innovations in practice had moved ahead of the discipline at an academic level. Each chapter takes a subject that can be defined as being new or relatively new (for instance value chain marketing, marketing through collaboration with customers, and two-way brand building) and illustrates how new thinking has led to innovations in practice. The book is full of examples of real-world companies who have dealt effectively with the emerging issues, and others who have not. Each chapter ends with managerial highlights and actionable summaries.

Family businesses prosper by pursuing unconventional strategies. Because they are values-driven and think very long-term, they take approaches not popular with current management fashion or most companies. That is the key to their competitive advantage. However, family businesses must find ways to simultaneously serve business needs and family goals, which require very different priorities and principles. As a result, they must think paradoxically, and find insights that single-purpose enterprises need not contemplate. They must dare to be different. Family business requires a different governance system, but it must nevertheless be one that can be controlled. Building on insights from the worldâ??s premier family business executive education course, this book offers the Unconventional Wisdom needed to leverage the strategic and cultural uniqueness of a family business for enduring success.

Corporate Governance is the hot topic of the new millennium. Gone are the days when CEOs set agendas and earned 500 times more than average employees. Now, transparency rules. Corporations must establish new systems of accountability, and encourage long-term participation in decision-making by both shareholders and staff. Those that succeed will be better equipped to create wealth, solve complex problems, and compete in global markets.The role of the directorate and the need to ensure an effective framework for its accountability to owners is paramount to success. In line with this thinking, Mastering Global Corporate Governance argues that one of the key responsibilities of the Board is leadership, and that the root of good corporate governance lies in the strength of a corporate leader. In particular, it focuses on two 'burning issues' for senior executives: how can the boards of global companies best lead their companies through the fundamental dilemmas that face all boards?; and how can Boards, entrusted with ultimate responsibility for the way a company exercises leadership, provide that leadership?

This book delivers new IMD insights on an emerging challenge - how to deal with overwhelming complexity. Global organizations face a complex decision-making environment. On one side, diversity of cultures, customers, competitors and regulations creates complexity; on the other, competitive pressures cause expanding countries to extract more synergies across products and regions. In such a climate, a new way of thinking, acting and organizing is needed beyond the familiar ‘control’ mindset. Drawing together insights from across the expert faculty, Managing Complexity in the Global Organization presents IMD’s framework on how to understand complexity and its four key drivers (diversity; interdependence; ambiguity and flux), along with solutions on specific issues in a variety of functions, industries and markets. The focus is on providing practical solutions based on real-life examples.

The third title from Executive Development from IMD is devoted toAccelerating International Growth, one of today's most crucialbusiness challenges. It provides the knowledge and the tools neededto speed up the development process and reach a stronger globalposition efficiently and quickly, and is firmly focused onanswering the real questions facing leading companies as theyundertake expansion in the field. Accelerating International Growthfocuses on the strategic, organizational and human aspects ofinternational growth. The book is aimed at practising managers incompanies that are either in the process of expandinginternationally, or are considering whether to do so. Philip Rosenzweig and his IMD colleagues combine a thoroughconceptual understanding of the attractions and challenges ofinternational growth with a practical explanation of the keyelements of successful implementation. Foreign entry modes,managing entry and post-entry phases, cross-border joint ventures,organizational learning, and human resource management are allexplored in detail. Readers will emerge with the skills to clearlyunderstand what drives the process, identify the key challenges,and avoid the greatest pitfalls.

In the e-business economy, managers are faced with too much data and too little meaningful information about markets, customers, products, company operations and finances. Their greatest challenge is to identify, manage and use the right information to compete. Information management is too important to a company's performance and growth to be delegated primarily to IT, information or financial specialists. This book is based on the idea that information management is the responsibility of every manager. Managers may not be IT specialists, but they must create the conditions for effective information use that creates real business value. Donald Marchand and his colleagues at IMD invite you to learn your information responsibilities, so your company can use information faster, better and smarter than the competition. By using the business framework of 'strategic information alignment,' this book shows how information can create business value through delighting customers, being more innovative, managing risks and being the low-cost leader in your markets and industries. Learn the why, what and how of better information use and management in your company. At last, here is a book about managing information written specifically for business managers. Developed from the executive teaching, consulting and real world research of a team of faculty who work with the world's leading global companies every day, this book provides managers with the mindset and guidance to leverage the company's capabilities to use and manage information to create business value.